Dehner Franks, Sr. is an accomplished Songwriter, Musician, Vocalist, Musical Director and Teacher. Franks attended Portland State University for 1 year eventually moving to Seattle, where he graduated from Shoreline Community College with an Associates of Arts degree. He completed his education at the University of Washington earning a double degree (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies) in 1995.

Since then Dehner has performed as a professional pianist in diverse musical situations. Dehner was commissioned by the Nordstrom Corporation to record, produce and arrange the music for their holiday CD; 'Holiday Lights'. Dehner has also performed many special music projects for Nordstrom, including a special performance on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Some of the highlights of his career include performing a solo piano concert at an International Ballroom Dancing Competition from the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia where Franks performed solo piano arrangements on Russian television stations worldwide, to an audience of an estimated 100 million people. He has been a featured guest artist with the Volunteers of America national convention where his original song, With These Hands was featured. He works with the VOA organization annually, where he has written the title song of the Christmas show, "A Gift of Music" which is webcast to an audience of thousands every December. Last year, in December 2010, Dehner was honored by the Volunteers of America with a plaque for having written both the words and music to more than 60 original songs and for having been the musical director of A Christmas Spectacular, an annual show in Everett, Washington. The show can be viewed at www.achristmasspectacular.com. Mr. Franks has performed numerous concerts as a soloist with orchestra, a jazz combo leader and as a solo pianist worldwide, including: "Panafest", Ghana, West Africa; a performance tour of the United Arab Emerites. Xavier University, Norwood, Ohio; The Governor's Chamber Music Series, Olympia, Washington; The Catalina Bar and Grill, Hollywood, California; Mt. Hood, WA Jazz Festival; Port Townsend, WA Jazz Festival; regular appearances at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. He has been featured several times with the Everett Symphony and hundreds of locations nationally. Additional performance venues are available here.